Abstract: The basic data for studies of the geographical distribution of marine plants have been accumulating steadily — in the form of species lists for individual benthic sites and plankton samples — since the first seaweed was named. These data represent an enormous mass of information, and the first task of the phytogeographer is to ensure that the identifications and the nomenclature of different botanists, collecting throughout this time and in all parts of the world, are consistent. Only then can the overall patterns of distribution of the different species be described, and the interpretation of such patterns in terms of the ecological requirements of the plants or their evolutionary history begin. It is not surprising, perhaps, that the only world-wide analyses for whole groups of marine plants that have been completed refer to two of the smallest groups — the seagrasses and the marine wood-rotting fungi. This chapter describes some examples of the distribution patterns of both seaweeds and marine phytoplankton, and examines the types of problems raised by these distributions.
Publication Year: 1991
Publication Date: 1991-10-03
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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